PETE WHELAN dated Frances Shea before she married the notorious gangster and remembers her very differently from the tragic figure she became

Frances wedding to Reggie Kray, right, with disapproving Ronnie, left, she died two years later

SHE was beautiful, lively, bright...and doomed. All because she was unlucky enough to fall into the clutches of a man who was one of Britain’s most notorious gangsters: Reggie Kray, the twin who, with his brother Ronnie, ruled the streets of London and its pubs and clubs back in the 1960s.

The story of Reggie Kray’s first wife Frances Shea is a tragic saga of how a violent, possessive criminal became fixated with a lovely young schoolgirl, an obsession so powerful he was never prepared to let her go, despite her many attempts to escape the terrifying world of the Krays.

Just two years after their glamorous wedding in 1965 where David Bailey was the photographer and many celebrities made up the guest list Frances killed herself with a drug overdose.

She was just 23 years old. Much is known of the Krays, their notorious Firm, how they rose to power from their humble slum dwelling in Vallance Road, Bethnal Green, and how the twins were ultimately imprisoned for life in 1969 for the murders of George Cornell and Jack “The Hat” McVitie.

Yet until recently little was known of Reggie’s relationship with Frances. As with so many stories about the Krays, the reality was obscured in a barrage of publicity about their “good” side.

The truth was, after a few years courtship, Reggie’s relationship with Frances was on the rocks.

As an innocent teenager she’d been initially dazzled by his expensive gifts and the trips to glamorous places. Yet Frances was intelligent and perceptive and it didn’t take her long to realise how evil the shady Kray world was – and how Reggie’s twin was determined to destroy their happiness.

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Frances Shea on a dinner date with Pete Whelan who remembers her as bright and bubbly

You couldn’t take your eyes off her: shoulder-length blonde hair and the most bewitching pair of brown eyes you ever saw

For Ronnie, a terrifying madman prone to manic and lethal outbursts, Frances was a huge threat. He didn’t want her in their lives.

Reggie had reluctantly agreed when Frances insisted they split up. Her parents wanted her away from him too. But he couldn’t keep away.

Secretly, he had her Hoxton home watched by his men. He was terrifi ed Frances might go off with another man and was ready to kill anyone who tried to get near her.

IN MAY 1964, Pete Whelan was a 21-year-old printer’s apprentice from Clerkenwell. One evening he was with a friend in a Hackney Wimpy bar when they spotted two young girls at a nearby table.

“One of the girls was a stunner,” recalls Pete, now retired and living in Essex.

“You couldn’t take your eyes off her: shoulder-length blonde hair and the most bewitching pair of brown eyes you ever saw.”

The bewitching stunner was Frances, aged 20. The group chatted and later Pete drove everyone home in his green Austin A35 van, dropping Frances off last at her family’s run-down terraced house. They sat in the car talking.

Pete, fascinated by this beautiful woman, asked her out. It was the beginning of an innocent, fun relationship which lasted nearly three months.

“In those days, dating was usually a once a week thing,” says Pete.

“We’d go out for a meal, a couple of times we went to the theatre or to pubs by the river. At the end of our dates there’d always be a kiss and cuddle in the back of the car. I’d try it on but it never went further than heavy petting.

“To be honest I couldn’t believe my luck taking her out, she was so gorgeous. Not nervous or shy but warm, very bright and bubbly. She was quite arty too; she loved things like Flamenco dancing and blues music.”

He adds: “That first night though she did mention she had ‘problems’ but I laughed it off. ‘Maybe I’m your knight in a green van’ I quipped.” Pete had no idea whatsoever that Frances was being stalked at all times by Reggie Kray’s henchmen: “I’d heard of the Krays – everyone had – but I’d never seen them.” One night Frances produced a photograph of herself with a darkhaired older man.

“Do you know who this is?” she asked Pete. “No. Is he your boyfriend?” said Pete who didn’t recognise the notorious Reggie Kray.

“She didn’t really answer,” he says now. Often when Pete would drop Frances off after a night out together he’d notice an MG Midget patrolling the street, driving past the parked van.

“The first time it happened she sat up and tried to see the car. The next time she just slid down in the seat,” says Pete.

“She seemed a bit troubled but not enough for me to worry about.”

Frances knew what the surveillance meant. She was caught in a terrible trap because of Reggie’s obsession with her. Men who knew she was “Reggie’s girl” were now far too scared to go near her.

“One night I took her to a big family party in South London,” recalls Pete. “I remember her wearing her hair in a plait, with a cute beret. She got on with everyone, including my mum and dad, laughing and joking.

“My cousin said she looked just like Brigitte Bardot. It was true. Everyone who saw her was saying ‘Who’s that girl’?”

Pete was made equally welcome by Frances’ parents Elsie and Frank whenever he picked her up for a date.

“We’d had this photo taken in Antonio’s Spanish restaurant in Covent Garden and I gave a copy to Mrs Shea. She loved it.”

Looking back, Pete knew Frances was attracted to him but sensed that there was a hidden obstacle. “I knew there was something going on – in the background – but I couldn’t have told you what it was.”

One July night they’d arranged to go to the theatre. Pete turned up at the house at 6.30pm. There was no response to his knock. “Then I heard all this screaming and shouting going on. Defi itely coming from the house,” he says. Pete stood there baffled. Then the upstairs window flew open. It was Frances’ mother.

“She’s not here!” she shouted. Stunned, a disappointed Pete walked away. For good.

“I reasoned if her mum was there, Frances was OK. But I never tried to ring her again. Something wasn’t right. And I knew it spelt trouble.”

THE following spring Pete was horrified to see newspaper photos of Frances greeting Reggie after he’d been released from custody. Two weeks later came the newspaper reports of their marriage.

“By that time I’d met my wife,” explains Pete. “I was a married man when I read she had died. It came as such a shock.

“After her death a lot of stories came out that said Frances was a very nervous girl, yet she was never nervous when I took her out.

“I didn’t know it but I was playing with fire.”

? Frances: The Tragic Bride, by Jacky Hyams (John Blake Publishing, £18.99), is available from the Express Bookshop. Call 01872 562310 to order a copy or send a cheque or postal order made payable to Express Bookshop to: Tragic Bride Offer, PO Box 200, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 4WJ, or visit www.expressbookshop.com. UK delivery is free.